Camera calibration and vehicle tracking: Highway traffic video analytics

We describe a real-time highway surveillance system (RHSS), which operates autonomously to collect statistics (speed and volume) and generates incident alerts (e.g., stopped vehicles). The system is designed to optimize long-term real-time performance accuracy. It also provides convenient integration to an existing surveillance infrastructure with different levels of service. Innovations include a novel 3-D Hungarian algorithm which is utilized for object tracking and a practical, hands-off mechanism for camera calibration. Speed is estimated based on trajectories after mapping/alignment with respect to dominant paths learned based on an evolutionary dynamics model. The system, RHSS, is intensively evaluated under different scenarios such as rain, low-contrast and high-contrast lightings. Performance is presented in comparison to a current commercial product. The contribution is innovation of new technologies that enable hands-off calibration (i.e., automatic detection of vanishing points) and improved accuracy (i.e., illumination balancing, tracking via a new 3-D Hungarian algorithm, and re-initialization of background detection on-the-fly). Results indicate the capability and applicability of the proposed system in real-time and real-world settings.     

Origin–destination synthesis for aviation network data: examining hub operations in the domestic and international US markets

Hub‐and‐spoke networking is a key feature of current aviation markets in which hubs, as connecting points, function to consolidate and redistribute flows. This indicates that observation of traffic on a segment does not necessarily convey information about the origin to destination routing of passenger journeys because of the unavoidable detours in the system. This paper examines the heterogeneity of the flow composition in domestic and international US markets, which in turn allows us to observe the variation of operations across major hubs. A modified Route Flow Estimator for origin–destination synthesis (or origin–destination matrix estimation) is designed to decompose the segment traffic into itinerary‐based passenger trips. Several public and commercial databases, which are easily accessible, are exploited (and reconciled) for the model in order to (i) generate possible trip itineraries using those segment markets, and (ii) link data‐driven operational conditions with the underlying segment flows. The results are validated with US domestic trip observations and empirical knowledge related to the air transportation system. Then, the variability of the hub operations is examined based on sensitivity tests using the model parameters. From the resolution of itinerary‐based estimates, we observe that major airports' hub operations are spatially uneven, particularly with respect to domestic and international connecting passengers. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

媒体网关在港口通信中的应用现状及前景

为适应发展需要，提高服务水平，港口通信网络在具备媒体网关的基础上引进软交换技术已成为一个趋势。介绍了综合接入媒体网关系统的功能及具体应用，媒体网关与软交换联接后对下一代港口通信网络发展的作用。     

基于BIM的山岭隧道施工信息化管理系统研发与应用

隧道施工现场采集的结构、地质、施工信息碎片化严重，缺乏统一组织手段，分析利用难度大，隧道动态设计与信息化施工水平有待提高。为支撑隧道工程施工信息化，对施工数据进行标准化定义，开发数据标准化工具，以支撑施工期异构数据统一组织应用。针对BIM技术在设计与施工中难以落地、工程数据难以集成的问题，研究多尺度BIM模型建立方法，并以里程为索引，集成地质、进度、设计方案等信息，实现施工数据统一管理与可视化。基于动态更新的施工现场数据与轻量化BIM模型，建立以集成信息模型为核心，桌面端、网页端与移动端应用综合服务的施工信息化管理系统，提供全面施工决策信息，动态评估施工风险，保障工程效率与安全。经云南老营特长公路隧道工程实践验证，本系统基本满足信息化管理需求，对隧道工程信息化管理及BIM技术的工程应用具有借鉴意义。     

An evaluation framework for traffic calming measures in residential areas

The paper evaluates the effectiveness of various traffic calming measures from the perspectives of traffic performance and safety, and environmental and public health impacts. The proposed framework was applied to four calming measures – two types of speed humps, speed tables, and chicanes – to demonstrate its usefulness and applicability. A field experiment using probe vehicles equipped with global positioning system devices was conducted to obtain vehicle trajectory data for use in more realistic simulations. In addition, a recently developed vehicle emissions model was used for more accurate evaluation of environmental and public health impacts. The results show that chicane is better than the other types of traffic calming measures considered, except in terms of vehicle emissions.     

Port e-Transformation,customer satisfaction and competitiveness

ABSTRACT

e-Transformation in container ports means port organization-wide innovative transformation encompassing internal and external value chains based on information and communication technology. There is a considerable theoretical literature on the impact of e-Transformation on business performance, but there is very little empirical study on its effectiveness in ports. The objective of this paper is to empirically investigate how e-Transformation in container port management can influence customer satisfaction and port competitiveness. The findings reveal that e-Transformation in container ports can affect customer satisfaction and port competitiveness through e-Workplace, customer relationship management and security, implying that container ports should make every effort to focus on e-transformation in these critical areas. Due to limited empirical studies in this area, the findings have provided an empirical support for the importance of e-Transformation in container terminal management and shed more light on how e-Transformation can affect customer satisfaction and port competitiveness.     

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF INFLUENCE OF LIQUID NITROGEN PRESERVATION ON ANTIGENICITY OF HUMAN HOMOGRAFT AORTIC VALVE

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Vibration control in train–bridge–track systems

To study the problems associated with vibration control of train–bridge–track systems a mathematical model with the capability of representing supplementary vibrational control devices is proposed. The train system is assumed as rigid bodies supported on double-deck suspension mechanism with semi-active features. The bridge system is modeled using the modal approach. Vibration control for bridge responses is provided by tuned mass dampers. A non-classical incremental Eigen analysis is proposed to trace the system characteristics across the time. In an example, the capability of the proposed model in investigating the vibration control prospects of a bridge–train system is shown. The results indicate the effectiveness of active suspension mechanism in reducing train's body movements, particularly the pitching angle and the vertical accelerations. Accordingly, the results also verify the potential of TMD devices in reducing the bridge responses at resonance motions.     

Rolling horizon control framework for driver assistance systems. Part II: Cooperative sensing and cooperative control

This contribution furthers the control framework for driver assistance systems in Part I to cooperative systems, where equipped vehicles can exchange relevant information via vehicle-to-vehicle communication to improve the awareness of the ambient situation (cooperative sensing) and to manoeuvre together under a common goal (cooperative control). To operationalize the cooperative sensing strategy, the framework is applied to the development of a multi-anticipative controller, where an equipped vehicle uses information from its direct predecessor to predict the behaviour of its pre-predecessor. To operationalize the cooperative control strategy, we design cooperative controllers for sequential equipped vehicles in a platoon, where they collaborate to optimise a joint objective. The cooperative control strategy is not restricted to cooperation between equipped vehicles. When followed by a human-driven vehicle, equipped vehicles can still exhibit cooperative behaviour by predicting the behaviour of the human-driven follower, even if the prediction is not perfect.The performance of the proposed controllers are assessed by simulating a platoon of 11 vehicles with reference to the non-cooperative controller proposed in Part I. Evaluations show that the multi-anticipative controller generates smoother behaviour in accelerating phase. By a careful choice of the running cost specification, cooperative controllers lead to smoother decelerating behaviour and more responsive and agile accelerating behaviour compared to the non-cooperative controller. The dynamic characteristics of the proposed controllers provide new insights into the potential impact of cooperative systems on traffic flow operations, particularly at the congestion head and tail.     

Dynamic demand estimation and microscopic traffic simulation of a university campus transportation network

Abstract

This article documents the authors' experience with the modeling, simulation, and analysis of a university transportation system, using the TRansportation ANalysis and SIMulation System (TRANSIMS). The processes of data preparation and network coding are described, followed by the algorithm developed to estimate the dynamic 24-hour demand, which includes a procedure for estimating the ‘desirability’ of the different parking lots from readily available data. The dynamic demand estimation algorithm is validated by comparing estimated and observed parking lot occupancies, where it is shown that the algorithm is capable of replicating observed results. Finally, an example is included to demonstrate how the developed model can be used in campus transportation planning. Besides serving as a first case study for using TRANSIMS to model a university campus, the study's contributions include the development of a procedure for parking lot desirability ranking and a practical procedure for estimating dynamic demand on university campuses.